Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1887-07-12
QUALITIES OF pIas.
Improving Swine Up TO n Condition for
Yielding n Fair Profit.

Improving bWiho UP TO ConutttOu Ior
Yielding n Fair Profit.
A writer on the pig has said that
'there are several points TO be OBJ
served, and these should have con-
sideration before all others" Also
''fineness of bone and absence Of
bristles, as the latter have been bred
away from all the best breeds; and
they, the blistlcs. will not be tolerated
on any respectable farm. That ho
should cat quietly and not roam about
not even walking about his pen after
eating"
Not few persons, in establishing n
herd of swine, have been irfluenced by
views similar to those quoted above,
not estimating at their full force tho
case and expedition with which tho
hog could be made to part with those
characteristics that formed breast
work against inroads from disease.
The ease with which the hog has been
improved has tempted some breeders to
push this Improvement in some cases.
Just little too far. Novices have
taken up where the regular breeders
have left of. and have pushed it be-
yond the limit of safety. This has
been done by selecting ON their own
judgment, or it may be better to say,
on their own fancy.
If beginners would more frequently
than has been the custom, leave the
selection of a pair of pigs to the man
who has bred them, it is not impos-
sible that the outcome would be better
than 1t sometimes is. The novice, left
to himself, is quite inclined to act upon
the suggestions above quoted, seeking
a pair with smallest bones in the herd,
and with absolutely no bristles at all.
and perhaps. hardly remnant
of hair. Then, give the novice
few years time in which to breed
in-and-in. feeding high on grain
and rich slops, 70 the exclusion of past
ure grasses. cultivating the tendency,
always shown by the high-bred and
fulfilled hog, to take little or no exer-
else. and sleep much, of the time, and
it re quires but few years to place
the offspring from swine so reared and
managed where they will give up right
quickly under exposure TO inclement
weather, or to any prevailing disease.
In fact, such collection is a good nurs-
cry for disease to begin its work in.
The really successful swine-grower
and feeder keeps clear Of that extreme
that his observation and
good sense tell him can not be indulged
in with safety. Up to the limit of
safety, or near it, prudent man.
can secure abundant success.
and his swine may. as they
have with many, prove TO be that kind
of property that once year furnishes
the cash that pays the interest on the |
mortgage, and eventually pays the
principal. Pigs bred up to proper
degree of refinement, but not beyond |
It, will bring good litters, both as to
numbers and strength, but when,
through too close breeding and other
wise using the agencies that sap the
and vital forces, infertility
then the stock must be
changed right speedily or else look to
other sources for an income. for such
swine will not furnish a ready fund
10 check against
When men have succeeded in get
ling improved swine up to what may
be rightly termed condition for yield
ng fair profit in contradistinction to
he woods hog that is believed to yield
40 profit it will not meet the indica-
lions II they attempt to do that impos-
'ible thing, namely, to keep health and
stamina in the hog under undue con-
lnement. Exercise and abundant lib
,rty was a leading condition in the
natural state, and if health and lean
neat in the hog are wanted. exercise
must be encouraged rather than to
make this impossible. by too close con-
inement depending, to the outside
init, upon pasture grass.-NationaI
LiCe- Stock Journal